New Telstra mobile tower at Gundillion officially opened

08 Aug 2018

A significant communications black hole in the region has been filled with the official launch on Friday of the new Telstra tower at Gundillion.

Around 40 local community members and invited guests crowded into the Gundillion Hall where Deputy Premier and Monaro MP John Barilaro, along with Telstra regional general manager Chris Taylor, Braidwood Community Bank manager Nick Fry and QPRC deputy mayor Trevor Hicks, joined locals in symbolically cutting a ribbon to launch the tower.

It’s been a long road for the Gundillion community members. They began lobbying for the tower in early 2015, after all landlines in the district went down after a storm, leaving residents in the region with no communications for five weeks.

Key 5G spectrum to hit auction block in November

06 Aug 2018

The Australian Communications and Media (ACMA) authority expects to begin in November the auction of spectrum that will play a key role in the initial wave of wireless services based on the next-generation 5G standard.

The ACMA is preparing to auction off 125MHz of spectrum in the 3.6GHz band. The auction will be offered in 350 lots across 14 regions.

The regulator revealed today that the spectrum would have a reserve price of $0.08/MHz/pop for spectrum in metro areas (excluding Perth lower lots, which will have a starting price of $0.053/MHz/pop).

BIRRR drawn into NBN customer support role

06 Aug 2018

Asks govt to fund 'hub' to address the need instead.

Regional, rural and remote NBN users are turning to well-connected volunteers to mediate and escalate issues with fixed wireless and Sky Muster connections, leading to calls for a more permanent solution.

Better Internet For Rural, Regional And Remote Australia (BIRRR) used a submission [pdf] to the regional telecommunications review to reveal its growing role in customer support and troubleshooting.

5G spectrum auction set to take place in November

06 Aug 2018

The auction of spectrum in the 3.6 GHz band is expected to commence in November 2018 the Australian Communications and media Authority (ACMA) announced.

In March, it was revealed that the Federal Government would put 125 MHz of mobile spectrum in the 3.6 GHz band up for auction, effectively opening up for the door for new 5G services in metropolitan and regional Australia.

A $10,000 non-refundable application fee is required for those participating, with the ACMA informing that there will be 350 lots on offer across 14 regions of Australia.

'State of flux': Govt slammed over glut of regional telco reviews

The Northern Territory government has attacked Canberra over a glut of telecommunications reviews it blames for creating a “state of flux” in regional Australia.

In a withering submission [pdf] to the ongoing 2018 regional telecommunications review, the NT government cites a "plethora" of reviews as damaging investment and development in regional areas.

“The direction for telecommunications services, particularly in regional and remote areas, is difficult to reliably determine and plan given the multiplicity of reviews and inquiries being progressed and the extent of changes potentially contemplated,” it said.

Australia's plans to build foreign ties with undersea cables hits snags at home

04 Aug 2018

When Australia bankrolled undersea internet cables for its Pacific neighbours, it shut out a competing offer from Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies.

But the strategic move to spend $91 million connecting Sydney with Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands via cables in the Coral Sea has perplexed many Australians, who must deal with home internet speeds that are among the slowest in the developed world.

On Norfolk Island, a verdant Australian speck in the South Pacific, where a connection to a cable 90 kilometres away would cost just $15 million, Canberra's decision to skip the project is galling.

Remote phones, web: Time for action not more reviews

Sir – I call again on the Federal Government to provide remote Territory residents with a standard of telecommunications services comparable with other Australians.

There is yet another Federal Government review into remote telecommunications – the 2018 Regional Telecommunications Review – which follows similar reviews in 2008, 2012 and 2015.

Currently, there are 21 remote communities with no mobile phone service, 33 with no fixed internet service and 37 connected to the NBN via unreliable or unsuitable satellite services.

The NT Government is co-investing with Telstra a further $28m over four years into delivering mobile phone and broadband services to remote Territory communities and businesses, on top of $40m already co-invested.

Telstra wins awards for fastest mobile, fixed networks

02 Aug 2018

Telstra has been named the fastest broadband provider in both the mobile and fixed broadband categories in the first two quarters of this year by Ookla, the company that provides the popular online Speedtest app for testing download and upload speeds.

In the mobile category, the telco achieved a speed score of 47.27, with average download speeds of 53.42Mbps and average upload speeds of 17.53Mbps.

And in the fixed network category, Telstra achieved a speed score of 27.32, with top download speeds of 72.99Mbps and top upload speeds of 20.14Mbps.

Vodafone extends 'endless data' to SMEs

Small business customers can now take advantage of Vodafone plans that include unlimited — albeit throttled — data.

Vodafone has followed up its Red Plus and SIM Only Plus plans with equivalent "endless data" plans for SME customers.

The new Business Advance mobile plans include data quotas that can be used at the maximum available speed, after which it is throttled back to 1.5Mbps.

"We have seen such a positive response from Australians who have embraced the flexibility that endless data provides. The freedom to stream and work as much as you want is exactly the kind of assurance business customers are looking for," said Vodafone's general manager of enterprise Neelum Prakash.